In preparation for the budget on Wednesday (23 March), Arts & Business has prepared 5 briefing papers on various tax proposals that might encourage more tax efficient giving to the arts and cultural sector.
We are clear that the onus can never lie solely at the Treasury’s door. As Lord Aldington said to the BBC this week the tax arrangements in the UK “are more beneficial than many donors realise.”
He continued: “In this country the tax deductibility arrangements are very generous. The thing that is wrong is that nobody knows they're generous because the government has steadfastly failed to sell the message about how good the current system is.”
As well as better promoting the current system, there is much that the Government can also do in terms of simplification and clarification that would make a real difference.
But a core challenge is for both charities and donors to make better use of the current system. Only when this is achieved will we be in a strong position to persuade the Government to introduce new incentives.
Elsewhere in the news: BBC - Can philanthropy bail out the arts?